1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to fluid handling apparatus, and more particularly to a hydraulic coupling device for drawing and connecting two pipe flanges together.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various types of fluid transferring devices are used in conveying fluids between a dock, buoy or floating barge and a marine tanker or other transport vessel. Some of the devices which are used in loading and unloading fluids between a dock and a marine tanker include large articulated pipe sections, referred to as marine loading arms, which may be maneuvered by power apparatus to conveniently connect the storage container on the dock to a manifold of the marine tanker. The end of the marine loading arm includes a flange which must be maneuvered into place adjacent a similar flange on the manifold of the marine tanker. The final alignment of the two flanges is usually accomplished by pushing, pulling and/or twisting the flanges into alignment by hand and then using bolts to secure the flanges in a fluid-tight connection. This process is slow, time consuming, and may require a large crew to move the large connectors into place.
Some prior art devices use bolts that are placed through holes in the flanges and tigntened to complete the connection, and sometimes the bolts and their nuts fall and are lost. Other prior art devices use a pair of clamps, each connected to a corresponding one of the flanges, to pull the flanges together. A threaded spindle is rotatably mounted in one of the clamps and is in screw engagement with the other clamp. A wrench may be used to rotate the threaded spindle and thereby pull the flanges into alignment. These devices occasionally are hard to handle, and the coupling process is time consuming. It is also possible that one of the clamps may fall and become lost if portions of the clamps become separated.